So the problem with Peat Moss is that when it gets dry it turns into a superfine dust and covers everything and travels all over the house :)
I setup a few enclosures with it but would not again, if you are good at keeping it moist it will probably be okay, but for my guys it was drying out...
I would not confuse "our needs" with seeing a benefit to increasing the amount supplied. The same is true for humans and Vit. C, you only "need" a small amount but there are health benefits to increasing that dose. What is still not clear for Vit. D is the long term effects of the...
I have had some come up in the past, I agree to try and identify it is probably best, I usually trust that the torts will know what is good for them. Their hyphae will be all through the substrate so if you want to get rid of it you will have to change your conditions or take all the substrate...
RE: Why?
Many breeders also incubate for males and sell them as babies unsexed, it is amazing how many incubated for female babies turn out to be male :)
I have known several breeders who were very honest with me on this and only incubated a small number of eggs at the correct temp for their...
I have housed my Redfoots on topsoil, I did not add sphagnum, I found that it packed down quite hard. I do a lot of gardening and sphagnum breaks down fairly quickly, so I am not sure how long it will keep the medium fluffly. If your redfoots are not adults it may be fine for a longer period of...
If you keep your torts outside there are many keepers, myself included, that would recommend that you deworm in the fall as there is a pretty good chance that they have picked worms up, especially if there are wild turtles or tortoises in your area. A fecal is important to assess load if they do...
I agree that it is better to use a vet for deworming, but would disagree with the recommendation to not deworm if you have kept your tortoises outside, if they have always been inside and you feed them store bought greens they are probably fine. Your vet can also do a fecal if you are worried.
Although true that Betadine can do some damage to the cells of the tort in that immediate area, fungi are very tough and are within the shell of that area also. Betadine is not an astringent (at least not how I have seen it defined), and it is not straight iodine, I agree that something like...
Yes, I would say that is shell rot. You might be keeping your substrate a bit too wet for your little guy.
I have had this come up once and treated the whole plastron with betadine once to twice a day. You can get Betadine at any drugstore (CVS) in a liquid. Just use a Q-tip and cover the...
I do pretty much exactly what GBtortoises does, as stated, it gets easier. The biggest problem I find is that they get their legs in the way and you can't get to their heads with your fingers. This is where I also use dental tools, you can get behind their legs and hook under their beak and...
Apparently they are very commonly used in mexican cusine, I used to have a vegetable supply place that sold both the berries and the pads, it was great, but they are gone now :(
I am sure if they look right, they would be great to feed out.
I agree with this completely. I will not give an animal away because many people will jump at the chance to get an animal "for free" and the real cost is in maintenance for most animals. Once you ask for some money you usually eliminate those people.
I think one of the saving graces for...
I just use a pair of old winter gloves, but you probably don't have those :)
They are very small on the fruit, I actually have never found the fruit that bad, the pads are worse, any one of the three gloves you mentioned would be fine.
I have a little butane lighter with an adjustable arm on...
Does she do it close to the heat? They also stretch out for sun exposure, when close to the heat and basking they will stretch all out to maximize their exposure to the heat.
I don't think that is what the article is saying, that is how some of the bears have been found, but they say that they have genotyped them so there is a lot more going on in this research than flying over and seeing a couple from the plane.
It does not look like he has published any of this...
I used a plastic ramp up to a box of soil for my leopard torts, they loved it, they used to walk up to the box and then turn around and just slide down the ramp. When I first set it up I put masking tape across it about 3 inches apart, your tortoise is smaller so it would have to be closer, but...
So long as you use vegetable oil and a good mild biodegradable soap with no additives like anti-bacterial agents etc. (Dawn, Sunlight) then they are absolutely safe.
There are many different types of leaf miners, they could be moths or flies so you are still not really sure what you have...
Unfortunately the soap is not going to do anything for the larvae currently in the leaes, they are protected there, even your Neem probably would not help. It will however help prevent new eggs from being laid.
You may want to take off all the affected leaves now and feed them out and let...
Personally, I like them to blend in as much with the room, rather then it being obvious that you have this weird enclosure in the room. So I would go with the bookcase, there is so much you can do with it.
Craig